Music Review : Modernism Revisited in ‘Roethke’ Premiere

At the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s concert Thursday at Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, one could be distracted by the facts that the LACO itself was only recently rescued from ruin, and that this grand hall is slated to close its doors in May.

Such conditions call for the solace and spur of good music, which the Chamber Orchestra, under conductor Christopher Perick, provided amply.

The ensemble brought finesse to Mendelssohn’s Incidental Music for “Midsummer Night’s Dream” and Beethoven’s First Symphony. More important, the orchestra boldly gave the world premiere of Donald Crockett’s “Roethke Preludes,” a rousing example of Modernism revisited and reformed.

Crockett’s 15-minute six-part work, his third written for this orchestra, derives its energy and intrigue from contrasting piled-up elements and styles, influenced by its namesake, poet Theodore Roethke. If the individual components of the piece are familiar, the composer’s venturesome spirit emerges in the process of weaving and stacking the diverse parts. Stravinsky-esque phrases assert their muscular rush over an eerie high wail of violins. Along the way, we hear abstract sonic under-painting, percussive colorations, guttural grumbles and a rough-hewn pizzicato section.

Swerving from tough note-thickets to elegiac passages, Crockett’s piece has an unfinished, elliptical quality that accounts for its rugged charm and freshness.

The orchestra dispatched a clearheaded reading of the Mendelssohn suite, joined by the USC Women’s Chorus, soprano Dale Franzen and mezzo soprano Rickie Gole.

Perick also brought fitting degrees of lucidity and understatement to Beethoven’s First Symphony. With its hairpin dynamic turns and feisty rhythmic churning, the opus proved a showpiece for the orchestra’s sheen and mettle.